Search results for "Conservation biology"
showing 10 items of 50 documents
Analisi della naturalità del mosaico territoriale in Sicilia
2009
A new index (NEI - Naturalness Evaluation Index) is applied in order to evaluate the landscape degree of conservation and naturalness. Land mosaic has been classified into four different levels of conservation, taking into account the relative influence of natural processes and anthropic activities. Fitocoenoses structure and floristic composition are used as indicators. As a case study Sicily (Italy) was chosen. The methodology has been applied to reclassify Corine Land Cover data and obtain a Naturalness map. The area of study has been divided into reference units (municipalities) and the index has been calculated for each land unit. The index has proved to be very useful for visualising …
Land molluscs from the Isola delle Femmine Nature Reserve (north-western Sicily, Italy) (Gastropoda Architaenioglossa Pulmonata)
2021
The results of a study on the fauna of land molluscs from Isola delle Femmine Nature Reserve (NW Sicily, Italy) (Gastropoda Architaenioglossa Pulmonata) are here described. In this small island 23 species have been found, 6 of which are Sicilian endemic taxa. Siciliaria leucophryna microinsularis n. ssp. endemic to the Isola delle Femmine (or Isola di Fuori) is described. For each species ecological, distributional data and information on their presence on this island are provided.
The genetic legacy of extreme exploitation in a polar vertebrate
2020
Understanding the effects of human exploitation on the genetic composition of wild populations is important for predicting species persistence and adaptive potential. We therefore investigated the genetic legacy of large-scale commercial harvesting by reconstructing, on a global scale, the recent demographic history of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), a species that was hunted to the brink of extinction by 18th and 19th century sealers. Molecular genetic data from over 2,000 individuals sampled from all eight major breeding locations across the species’ circumpolar geographic distribution, show that at least four relict populations around Antarctica survived commercial huntin…
Holidays? Not for all. Eagles have larger home ranges on holidays as a consequence of human disturbance
2019
Human-wildlife conflicts are the object of raising concern in conservation biology. People living in urban areas are rapidly increasing worldwide and consequently the temporal pattern of occupation of natural areas for recreation is changing as well, resulting in an ever-increasing concentration of people during weekends and holidays. This is particularly evident in affluent societies, where more recreationists visit natural areas on holidays and weekends, causing disturbance to wildlife in the so-called “weekend effect”. Here, we tested the response to disturbance of 30 Bonelli's eagles tracked by high-frequency GPS/GSM telemetry. We analysed daily home-range size, a measure of changing be…
OBSERVADORES DEL MAR - A MARINE CITIZEN SCIENCE PLATFORM WORKING FOR A HEALTHY OCEAN
2020
VII International Symposium on Marine Sciences (ISMS 2020), 1-3 July 2020 (Barcelona).-- 3 pages
WOODIV, a database of occurrences, functional traits, and phylogenetic data for all Euro-Mediterranean trees
2021
Trees play a key role in the structure and function of many ecosystems worldwide. In the Mediterranean Basin, forests cover approximately 22% of the total land area hosting a large number of endemics (46 species). Despite its particularities and vulnerability, the biodiversity of Mediterranean trees is not well known at the taxonomic, spatial, functional, and genetic levels required for conservation applications. The WOODIV database fills this gap by providing reliable occurrences, four functional traits (plant height, seed mass, wood density, and specific leaf area), and sequences from three DNA-regions (rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA), together with modelled occurrences and a phylogeny for all…
Red List of vascular plants of Tajikistan – the core area of the Mountains of Central Asia global biodiversity hotspot
2020
AbstractCentral Pamir-Alai, which is located almost entirely within the area of Tajikistan, is one of the world hotspots of biodiversity, harbouring ca. 4,300 species and 1,400 endemic plants. The first application of the IUCN Red List criteria reveals that among all native species occurring in Tajikistan 1,627 taxa (38.11%) are threatened, including 23 extinct (0.54%), 271 (6.34%) critically endangered (CR), 717 (16.79%) endangered (EN) and 639 (14.96%) vulnerable (VU). Globally, 20 taxa are extinct, 711 (16.65%) threatened, including 144 (3.37%) critically endangered, 322 (7.54%) endangered and 245 (5.73%) vulnerable. As we found positive correlation between human density and the number o…
Species immigration, extinction and turnover of vascular plants in boreal lakes
1999
Dictated by limited resource availability for land acquisition, a central question in conservation biology is the ability of areas of different size to maintain species diversity. The selected reserves should not only be species rich at the moment, but should also maintain species diversity in the long run. We used two sets of data on vascular plant species in boreal lakes collected in 1933/34 and 1996 to test the relationships between lake area and the extinction, immigration and turnover rates of the species. Moreover, we investigated, whether the number of species in 1933/34 or water connection between lakes was related to extinction, immigration and turnover rates of species. We found t…
Conservation of Ptilostemon greuteri (Asteraceae), an endemic climate relict from Sicily (Italy): state of knowledge after the discovery of a second …
2022
Ptilostemon greuteri is one of the most endangered and poorly studied woody vascular plant species of the Mediterranean Basin, endemic to Sicily (Italy). Several peculiar traits confer to P. greuteri a character of uniqueness and an enigmatic attractiveness. In fact, at first glimpse the largest individuals of this species remind the most remarkable and peculiar cases of herbaceous genera (e.g., Echium, Senecio) turned woody on insular or insular-like mountain ecosystems. Following the discovery of a second population of this rare species, a project aiming at the study and conservation of P. greuteri was set up. We present here updated information on the distribution, conservation status, b…
Offsetting harmful ecological impacts by restoring conservation areas
2019
Ihmistoiminnasta aiheutuvat ekologisesti haitalliset vaikutukset voidaan kompensoida tuottamalla luonnon kannalta hyötyjä, esimerkiksi ennallistamalla elinympäristöjä tai perustamalla uusia luonnonsuojelualueita. Elinympäristön ennallistaminen mahdollistaa elinympäristön palautumisen kohti luonnontilaa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, voitaisiinko jo aiemmin suojelluilla alueilla tehtävällä ennallistamisella saavuttaa ekologisessa kompensaatiossa tarvittava luontohyöty. Voi ehkä vaikuttaa siltä, että tällä tavoin tuotetut hyödyt eivät ole luonnon kannalta lisäisiä, koska toimenpiteet kohdistuvat alueisiin, jotka ovat jo suojeltu. Suomessa on kuitenkin tällä hetkellä monia suo…